Nursing students stand in front of a posterboard explaining how to feed your newborn. They are all wearing masks, purple scrubs, and grey shirts.

Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions to Have Tiny Cubs Community Baby Shower, Sibling Bootcamp April 9

Mar. 21, 2022



Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@xt23z.com, 256.765.4392

FLORENCE, AL – The Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of North Alabama will have a community baby shower for expectant mothers who live in the Shoals. In addition to the shower, there will be a bootcamp for siblings to help them prepare for the baby’s arrival.

The Tiny Cubs Community Baby Shower will be Saturday, April 9 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. in Harrison Hall on the UNA campus.

“We are looking forward to hosting another baby shower this spring,” said Dr. Vicki Pierce, Dean of the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. “It is rewarding to provide this service for expectant mothers in our community." 

This free community event affords mothers-to-be the opportunity to learn about basic prenatal and baby care from senior-level nursing students, clinical supervisors, and faculty from the College. The sibling bootcamp will offer soon-to-be-siblings a chance to learn what it means to have a new baby in the home and how they can help be part of the new baby’s care.

“As a labor and delivery nurse for 10 years, I am very passionate about improving perinatal care throughout our community,” said Melissa DeFoor, an event organizer as well as the Assistant Department Chair of Undergraduate Programs in ACONHP.

The first Tiny Cubs Community Baby Shower took place in Fall 2021. DeFoor said dozens of expectant mothers availed themselves to the resources provided, and, it was through the success of that event that the decision was made to incorporate the sibling bootcamp this year.

“We identified and met a need to offer a free educational event to expectant mothers. Additionally, we are excited to again offer a service-learning opportunity to our nursing students,” said Dr. Ann-Marie Irons, event co-organizer and an ACONHP Assistant Professor in Undergraduate Programs.

Along with learning more about basic care, participants will also receive a free gift bag and have opportunities to win items, including car seats, Pack ‘n Play play yards, breast pumps, and more. Several local vendors have been invited to participate in the event.

“I am proud to have had the chance to be a part of the Tiny Cubs Community Baby Shower,” said Jessica Fowler, a senior nursing student who participate in the 2021 event. “I feel like we helped a lot of families.”

To register for the Tiny Cubs Community Baby Shower, follow this link.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: xt23z.com and xt23z.com/unaworks/.